The eyes of Furude Rika snapped open as loud footsteps coming up to her house's door could be heard. Tensing up, wondering if this world would be like the last, ending in her demise, she looked over at the purple-haired ghost girl in the corner, whimpering "Hauauauauauuuuu..." and cowering, even though she couldn't be seen anyway, so Hanyuu would never be in danger. Rika grabbed the sheets over her futon, squeezing them inside her fists, looking at the girl, feeling slightly jealous that her life always ended, whilst Hanyuu lived on...

"Hanyuu," she said, sounding oddly calm, still clutching at the sheets. "Go and see who's there." Hanyuu looked at her with big, fearful brown eyes, still whining softly. "GO!" she snapped, instantly feeling guilty as Hanyuu lowered her head, reluctantly leaving the room to identify their intruder.

--

As Hanyuu looked around outside, she could feel ghostly tears fall down her cheeks. She hated seeing her descendant being hurt, her body abused and discarded in each world. Even though Hanyuu had lived thousands of years before Rika, she still felt motherly towards the young shrine-maiden. She hated seeing how depressed Rika would become, how she would drink a lot of alcohol the few days before the day of her murder;

The Watanagashi festival.

Hanyuu desperately hoped that this world would bring her dark-haired, sister-like descendant happiness; that she would not have to endure yet another death or loss- until the time comes, that is; not until the natural ending of the group's lives. However, as her tears dried, she saw a familiar mop of blonde hair and petite, pre-adolescent girl running over to the house. Blinking in surprise, Hanyuu followed the girl back to where Rika lay, waiting...

--

Rika shivered slightly, feeling less secure without Hanyuu by her. She slowly closed her eyes as silvery, milky moonlight illuminated her own pale skin, listening to the soft pattering of the rain, and those footsteps, trying to keep her breathing even, trying to calm herself; then the door opening violently, sobs, accompanied by fast, heavy footsteps. She jolted up, sitting still in her futon, wondering why the intruder would be crying, until a certain blonde-haired girl ran in, sobbing her heart out, throwing herself onto Rika's futon as Hanyuu trailed behind, looking concerned, the way a mother looks when she sees her child come in hurt, but no longer crying.

"Rika... Rika..." she sobbed, her arms wrapped tightly around the other girl's waist, her head buried into her stomach. Her nightclothes were soaked in rain, her feet cut and hurt from running over barefoot. Sitting Satoko up and holding her close, she could see the hand-shaped bruises, violently purplish, greenish, bluish and incredibly painful to the touch on her inner thigh as her nightdress rode up. Immediately, she was filled with revulsion, fury and hate, but she pushed those feelings back to stroke the girl's short blonde hair, resting her cheek on Satoko's head.

"What did he do to you?" she whispered, not even in the same voice as her normal one; this was older, darker... softer, yet still filled with the genuine concern that Satoko could always recognize. Satoko shook her head violently, trying to hold herself closer to the blue-haired girl, as though being close enough to her would make her safe. Seeing one of the closest, scratch that... the closest person in the world to her in that state pushed a lump up into her throat, which she swallowed down as her small hand gently cupped the sobbing girl's face as she murmured soothing words to her, nuzzling the top of her head.

--

After a while, Satoko had calmed down and was sitting silently on the end of Rika's futon, her eyes blank, dark purple, disturbed, depressed. Her cheeks were still wet with tears and rain, even though her clothes were beginning to dry from being in such close contact with Rika, who was warm from being under covers for so long. Rika stood up, pushing her bedcovers away, helped Satoko up, and took her over to the drawers where some of her clothes remained, folded. After a bit of sifting, she found a pyjama top and shorts, took these out, and handed them to a sodden Satoko, who just stood there looking glumly at the clothing. Rika put the clothes to one side, looking closely at her friend.

"Do you need me to change you? Mii~" she murmured, moving closer, wrapping her arms around the other girl, who burst into tears again. Rika gently disentangled herself, sat Satoko on the floor, and gently pulled Satoko's nightdress off, replacing it with the pyjamas. She did this as hastily as possible without hurting her friend, but even so, she saw quite a lot of her friend's body and an unfamiliar burning sensation built up in between her thighs. Nevertheless, she dismissed it as nothing as she sat next to her best friend, who had stopped crying, curled up next to her, looking out to the other end of the room, thinking, wondering, visualising... then Satoko brought her back to Earth by grabbing her hand and drying her tear-stained cheeks with the other.

"I'm scared, Rika," She admitted quietly, almost ashamed of what she was saying, turning her head away, looking at the floor. Rika squeezed her hand, smiling warmly at her, feeling a sort of pain at seeing Satoko so broken. Not a physical pain that would fade after a few hours, the kind that comes from a wound or the sudden, shocking pain of a shattered bone; a strange sort of physical pain that would not subside, but stubbornly carry on thumping away in the depths of Rika's chest until Satoko cheered up.

"You shouldn't be scared here. Nippa~" she said, moving her hand and lacing her fingers through hers, her smile becoming soft and loving. "I won't let anything happen to Satoko-chan." Satoko's head was still turned to one side, but Rika could see a delicate pink build up on her cheeks. She giggled, moving closer and resting her head on her shoulder. Satoko stiffened and made a surprised sound, her blush deepening to pale red, but relaxed a little bit and leaned back onto the other girl a bit. Their hands were still interwoven, and Rika could feel every erratic pulse of blood through her veins as her thumb gently rubbed against the blonde girl's palm. Satoko stiffened up again, sitting up straight, her blush deep red, stretching not only across her cheeks but also across the bridge of her nose. Rika grinned mischievously, before leaning to the side, extricating their hands before cupping Satoko's delicate face, softly rubbing their noses together before gently pressing their lips together. Rika could feel Satoko's whole body tense up, especially as she straddled her lap, wrapping her arms around the other girl's neck.

After a few minutes, Rika slowly pulled away, clearly embarrassed, looking questioningly at the other girl, who was shaking uncontrollably, but her lifeless, dull eyes had returned to their normal colour; a hue somewhere between chocolate and burnt sugar, her whole face now a pale red.

"S-Satoko-chan, I'm sorry..." she started to apologize, but Satoko took her hand and smiled shyly, her blonde bangs falling into her eyes, hiding her embarrassed but loving expression. Rika too smiled, singing out "Nippa~" as she rested her head on Satoko's chest, her arms now circling her small waist, listening to her steadying (but still slightly speedy) heartbeat. Satoko's arms were draped around Rika's shoulders, lazily tracing patterns over her shoulders, her chin resting on her friend's dark blue hair. Both girls felt their hearts swell up, almost to the point of bursting, with this new loving feeling.

---

After a while, Rika finally decided to try to ask about the bruises on her friend's body.

"Satoko-chan?" Rika asked in a soft, concerned voice, leaning back a little to look at her friend. Immediately, Satoko stiffened up and sat still for a few seconds, before replying.

"Yes, Rika?"

"Where are those bruises from?"

Satoko's body refused to move as she thought up a plausible lie. She felt absolutely awful for lying to Rika, the most important person in the world to her besides her Nii-nii. Nevertheless, she had to get through this on her own. If Rika knew, even if she would be doing it for the best, Satoko would have failed and her brother would never return. Therefore, she plastered a smile on her face, laughed and said;

"It's just where I fell down the stairs."

Rika frowned slightly; she could tell that Satoko was lying, but she would not push it. She wrapped her arms around her, hugging her once more, and kept silent as she pondered how to keep Satoko safe. Satoko stood up, pulled away from Rika's grasp, and stood by the window, her hand flat against the cold glass as she stared blankly outside. Rika watched her sadly for a while, until Satoko slowly turned around and made eye contact with the navy-haired girl. Her eyes had returned to their blank stare, and she seemed extremely depressed. Rika gulped down tears that she felt were sure to come as she began to imagine the horror Satoko must be living through, making her way over to her. "Satoko," she murmured, feeling so sad that her friend could be hurt in such a way.

--

They stood silently for a while, doing nothing until Satoko stifled a yawn, and Rika giggled when it caused her to yawn, glad for the break in the tension of depression that had hung so heavily in the air before. "Does Satoko want to sleep over tonight? Mii~" she asked, even though it was almost one in the morning. Satoko opened her mouth to reply, only to have a yawn escape as her reply instead. They both laughed, and then Rika climbed in her futon as Satoko went over to the cupboard to retrieve her own.

"It's too late to get another futon. Mii~" Rika stated. Satoko blushed, opened her mouth to protest, yawned, realised just how tired she was, then nodded and joined her friend in the medium-sized futon. As it wasn't made to hold two people, Rika and Satoko had to lie close together so that neither fell out, but there wasn't much danger of that happening, as Rika was holding Satoko tightly to her, so tightly they could feel the thumping of each other's hearts. Satoko was still a pale pink colour, especially since she was being held so close to Rika. They were facing each other, and she was pressed so tightly to her that she could feel the soft lumps where her breasts had just started growing squashing against her own. She felt an unknown feeling, a feeling that made blood seep to her cheeks and her heart beat faster, a feeling that made her want to do things she'd never done before.

Suddenly, she didn't feel as tired. Especially not when her heart was thumping as she shakily pressed her lips against her friend's forehead, her cheek, and the soft part of her neck, where it curved to join her shoulders. She was sure Rika had been sleeping, or at least falling asleep, judging from her stillness and silence, but as she kissed her neck, she could feel the girl shiver, as though cold, and a soft sort of sigh escape her mouth, pulling Satoko's body closer to her own. Hanyuu, floating somewhere near the two squeaked and burnt red, fleeing the room, not wanting to intrude on the girls, even though she would soon be feeling everything Rika would feel...

The blonde girl grinned and giggled slightly, intoxicated by the small sound Rika had made, sliding one hand down from her friend's ribs, across the dip of her waist, to rest on top of her small, half-developed hips before moving it down, gently grazing across her backside before letting it rest on her thigh. Rika bit her lip, grabbing Satoko's pyjama top tightly, making the girl smile, dip her head slightly and close her mouth around her friend's, softly sucking and licking Rika's bottom lip.

She opened her mouth, a low moan slipping out as she felt her friend's tongue slide through her lips and rub softly against her own. Rika's hand slid up under Satoko's pyjama top, softly stroking and groping her small breasts. A soft cry slipped out, and their kiss intensified, pressing their faces so close together that their lips had begun to ache. Their hands entangled in each other's hair, pulling, but not enough to tug out the strands. The blonde haired girl slipped her leg in between her friend's, pressing her knee ever so slightly against her opening, making the navy-haired girl break the kiss and cry out. Panting a little, Satoko removed the slightly shorter girl's pink nightdress and held her close, softly kissing her neck, making Rika whimper and mewl, arching her back, and pressing herself closer.

"Rika..." Satoko's voice came out breathy as she whimpered her friend's name, her hand sliding down the girl's chest, down her abdomen, all the way down to the waistband of the grey cotton panties. Feeling the soft touch, Rika clamped her legs together, clenching her teeth and contracting all her muscles. Breathing becoming laboured, Satoko pressed one hand on the small of Rika's back as she slid her other hand inside the wet material, stroking the sticky flesh, making the girl beside her tremble and whimper, clutching at Satoko's hair, clothes, skin; anything available to hold on to, or else Rika feared she would descend into madness. The sensation was delicious, but she couldn't help crying out, feeling her throat become raw as her larynx became sore and tired... her normal self was becoming overridden by the pleasure, by the lust...

Then, just as Satoko began to slide her two fingers inside the girl, their mouths found each other and their tongues fought desperately as they clung to each other. Rika cried out desperately, pulling away from Satoko, tugging the blonde girl's nightdress off, peeled away her wet underwear, and slid under the sheets headfirst as Satoko withdrew her hand.

"Rika... wha-what are you...?" Her sentence was never finished. Satoko's eyes dilated as she cried out, feeling Rika's hands hold her thighs down (being careful to avoid her bruises), feeling her tongue slide teasingly over the outer lips of her opening, mischievously circling the sensitive spot, applying a gentle pressure that made the young blonde both wince in discomfort and moan breathily. Satoko's hands gripped Rika's legs, which were straddling her chest, her nails digging into her thighs and leaving crescent-shaped marks in the soft white flesh as she screamed out, arching her back and pressing her hips closer to Rika's mouth, her opening aching as she begged for more.

The whole of Rika's body trembled and convulsed as she gripped her friend's legs tighter, sliding her tongue in farther, exploring her deeper.

In another room, Hanyuu sat curled up, her hands clenching and unclenching. She desperately tried to ignore the senses that were, at that moment, flooding through Rika's body, whilst back in the other room, Satoko tore away Rika's underwear and desperately pressed her lips against her opening, sliding her tongue in as far as she could without making herself gag, lapping up the salty-tasting liquid as though it were a life-saving drink. The young miko cried out, her teeth grazing softly over the extra-sensitive pink flesh, sliding her tongue in slightly more, teasing her, before withdrawing back to her rim.

Satoko cried out into Rika, hugging her legs, tugging her closer, needing her in such a way that she had never needed anyone before. Her whole body was on fire, yet everything except the part that Rika was giving her attention to was numb...

She didn't notice that she had fallen back onto the futon, tensing up her muscles, writhing and crying out Rika's name in ecstasy, until she felt herself coming, screaming at the top of her lungs and kicking her legs against Rika's grip. Then the hold faltered as Rika sat up, wiping her face.

"Rika..." Satoko had barely enough voice left to murmur. The word came out an arid whisper, broken in parts where her voice wasn't strong enough to make the right sound. Rika turned around, sitting on Satoko's hips, smiling down at her with an accomplished-sounding "Nippa~". Satoko grinned up at her weakly, lying down and sighing. Her heart was still racing, and her body was still aching for Rika...

That problem was solved as Rika pulled Satoko to her feet and pinned to the wall, kissing up and down her neck. The blonde cried, throwing her head back and trying to tug her wrists free.

"Ri-Rikaaa... aaah..." she couldn't stop her cries, and was unable to pry her wrists free, and so just leaned loosely against the wall, one leg trembling slightly as Rika moved her head down from her neck to her chest, teasing her by breathing on her before taking one nipple in her mouth. Satoko practically screamed the house down, struggling against Rika's grip once again. This time she succeeded in breaking free, pushing with one hand against the back of Rika's neck, the other hand pressing against the back of her head, tugging at and fisting her hair, gasping and whimpering as Rika suckled like a baby.

"Rika..." Satoko murmured breathily. Her hand left Rika's neck and moved down, three fingers sliding into her, moving slowly. Rika groaned into Satoko's chest, adding small nips into her teasing routine. Sighing and moaning out Rika's name, Satoko picked up the pace just enough to make Rika's head loll backwards as she cried out.

"S-Sa- Satoko," she gasped, leaning up to kiss her, clutching at her short blonde hair, tightening up around Satoko's hand, readying herself for her release. Satoko groaned inwardly and tightened up herself, fisting Rika's hair tighter. The two girls sank to the floor as Rika and Satoko screamed out, Rika exploding over Satoko's hand and onto the floor, Satoko's liquids dripping down her legs and onto the floor, panting heavily. As the two lay on the floor, regaining their breaths, their gazes locked and both girls blushed a pale pink. Their eyelids drooped as the weariness set in, yet they smiled and held each other close as they slowly lost their consciousness...

--

Both girls woke with a start only a few hours later, as the sound of the front door being battered down reverberated through the house. With a strained, panicked expression, Rika urged Satoko up into the attic.

"It will be okay," Rika lied through her teeth, smiling falsely. "Come down when it is safe." With that, Rika placed a chaste kiss on Satoko's lips and closed the door to the attic, moving away so her attackers would not know her loved one was hiding there, despite Satoko's quiet pleas for Rika to hide...

--

Hours passed and Satoko became restless, rocking backwards and forwards on the floor, worry etched on her face. A small crack in the floor of the attic had enabled her to watch the events that had unfolded; Rika hurriedly pulling her nightdress on, the men barging in and knocking her out with a drugged rag and bundling her into a sack before dragging the sack away.

Paralyzed with fear, all she could do was sit and rock and cry, sit and rock and cry, and repeat the cycle. Yet when she was sure the danger as passed, as Rika had requested, she crawled out the attic and dressed herself, meaning to head out to find her. Yet, the minute she finished buttoning up her top, Rena and Mion rushed through the broken doors.

"Sa-to-ko-chan," Rena wheezed, catching her breath. Mion's cheeks were flushed red, her breath speedy, her green eyes sympathetic. Rena was leaning forward, catching her breath, looking sadly up at Satoko. "Satoko-chan, you have to come with us quickly."

Satoko's heart dropped into her stomach, blanching as she imagined what it was that the two girls wanted to show her.

--

Taking Satoko's hand, Rena lead her to the Furude shrine.

"E-eh? W-why are we..." Satoko's question was cut off as she saw pools of crimson, congealing blood drip slowly from the steps and onto the ground, the red river slowly slithering towards the girls. Satoko's stomach fell to the floor and she bolted up the steps, slipping twice on the red liquid. But once she got there...

Rena and Mion stood back, looking at the floor uncertainly, saddened by the sight in front of them. Satoko dropped to her knees by the bloodied, mangled body of Rika, hyperventilating, eyes wide, everything numb.

She couldn't feel anything, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe...
and then, a cry like nothing heard in the whole of time burst from the young blonde. She hunched over her loved one's body, holding her tightly to her chest.
"R-Ri-Rika," she sobbed. "Rika, Rika..." Rena moved forwards and knelt by Satoko, soothingly patting her shoulder. Mion stayed back, not knowing what to say or how to act in such a situation. Not even during her abuse had she been seen so broken…

Within a few days, Satoko fell from the suspension bridge and drowned. As her lungs gasped for air but drew in only water, as her vision became hazy and her hear slowed, she could see Rika in front of her, concerned, holding out her hands to her.

Weakly, using the last of her strength, she reached out…

And died.